Apparatus for turning out decorative material



Oct. 2, 1945. 2,386,172 I APPARATUS FOR TURNING OUT DECORATIVE MATERIALI l. J. WISOFF Filed July 18, 1944' 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 2, 1945. l..1. WISOFF APPARATUS FOR TURNING OUT DECORATIVE MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed July 18, 1944 IN VEN TOR. is war x Wz'sa/f Patented Oct. 2, 1945APPARATUS. FOR TURNING OUT DECORATIVE MATERIAL I Isaac J. Wisofi,Brooklyn, N. -Y., assignorto Noma Electric (iorporatiomNew York, N..Y.,' a

corporation of New York Application July 18, 1944, Serial No. 545,525

8 Claims.

Myinvention relates to'improvements in apparatus for turning outdecorative material, especially decorative material of Cellophane, instrip form, worked to give it the pleated and spiral appearance of theproduct shown and described in my PatentNo. 2,112,723, granted March29,1938;

Anximportant object of this invention is to provide mechanism fortwisting the Cellophane strip in the final stage after pleating; sodesigned that the capacity of the apparatus is enlarged and the speedofmanufacture increased. Also waste is reduced and costs are decreased.Instead of Cellophane, paper maybeused.

Other objects and'advantages are set forth in the ensuing descriptiontaken with theiaccompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferredembodiment of the invention. But the disclosure is of course explanatoryonly; and changes in various details may be made without departing fromthe principles'of the invention or going'beyond the meaning'of the termsin which the appended claims are expressed.

On the drawings:

Figure '1 is aside" View showing the complete apparatus. v

Figure, 2is a view of the twisting mechanism viewed fromthe top ofFigurel.

Figure 3"is a: top plan of. the operating connections for the feed rollsin the apparatus.

Figure 4 is a vertical section on 'line' 44 of Figurel."

Figure 5 is a front View of said twisting mechanism;and

Figuredis a section on line -56 of Figure5. The same numerals identifythe same "parts throughout. i

The apparatus mounts one or more reels 1 woundwith strips of'Cel-lophane or paper 2, and atleast one reel 3 bearing a coil of wire 4.The strips 2 receive the wire l'loetweenthem and are'fed by feed rolls 5and'B tothetwister 'at tachment or mechanism 1; The 'wire 4 is retardedsomewhat in relation to the strips -2-; and

when the combined strips with the wire forming a core emerge from therolls they-are transversely pleated; In this condition the twister 1revolves the strips about thecore; and gives to the finished product theform of spirals orconvolutions, as fully described in my aforesaidpatent and inmy prior PatentNo. 2,157,583, granted May 9,4939. 1 a

I'hesupporting framework of the machine is shown part at 8. One or moremembers shown diagrammatically at 9 carry a motor 10,

framework 8.

- having a pulleyat one end' of itsarm'ature shaft to drive a largerpulleyll on'the end of a shaft [2, suitably mounted i a belt l 3f. Atitsopposite end said shaft carries a gear- 1'4? toactuatea similar gear 14meshing with a gear'l5"ontheshaft I6 of the lower pulley 5. The upperroll .5 turns, on a shaft or trunnions 16a and is rotated by frictionfrom the lower roll 5' and the strips 2 passing between the tworolls.The. motor, belting and gearing for the pulleys and various cooperatingparts are arranged in any suitable manner in the t The pressure of theupper roll 5 on. the lower is regulated by'springs l1, bearing on thetrunnions orshaft' lBa ofthe upper rolls 5, or on the ends thereof. Thesprings are controlled by bolts or screws [8 in projections orposts t9on the framework 8.1 Only the lower rolls appear in Figure 3, for thesake ofclearness.

;I 'he, rollst iarejlikewi'se" disposed one above the other; and thelower has a shaft 23 carryingage'ar 21 connected by a chain 22 to a gear20 on the shaft of'the lower roll 5'. The rollers 6 are preferablyhalfthe diameter of the rolls 5, and are driven at twice the speedof'rotation, so thatthe peripheral speed of the rolls Bland 6 is,properly matched. The upper roll 6 is also rotated by Iriction anditspressure on the lower roll 6 is regulated by elements of the samekind as for the upper roller 5. Rolls 5 and 6 are of course located sothat the strips pass them in astraight horizontal line. V Brackets ,24secured to the framework support he shaft of the; lower reel .l, andbrackets 26 arr th sha r t nm r he. upper reel 1. The brackets .24 alsohear idle rolls 25 over which the strips 2 pass to the feed rolls 5.

The twister l comprisesa fixedplate 21erranged transversely of theframework, and fixed thereon; being firmly attached at its lower edge.to a cross angle-bar 28 on the framework. In thecnter of the plate .21is an opening 29. Betwee'nithe plate 27 and the feed rolls .6 is a fixedannular gear or rack 30. The center of the openm 2.9 isirl line With theIhiddleof the length of the fe'edrolls, and the gear 30 is concentrictherewith. This gear-is held in place by a bent bar or" bracket" 3|connecting it to theplate 21 at" the (bottom, and by ahorizontal bracket32 connecting itto'the'plate 2'! at the top; A space 'of some widthseparates the plate 21 from the gear-30;: Betweenthe gear '30 and the iplate '2! is a pulley ring 33 with a groove 34 in itscircumference.

n the framework, through" .Flanged rollers 35 on the plate 21surrounding the opening 29 support the pulley ring 33, and are rotatablymounted by means of screws or bolts engaging the plate 21 and formingsuitable journals onwhich the rollers are free to turn. The inside edge36 of the ring 33 fits these rollers between the flange thereof; andthus the ring is rotatably secured on the position also concentric withthe opening 29. The ring is of course larger than this opening.

Spanning the ring I gential to the opening 29 are angle bars 31, fixedat their ends upon raised seats 38 on the ring 33. Two shafts 39 aremounted at opposite point on the ring 33, by means of bearings 40 vonthis ring; and the outer extremities of the shafts 39, carry gears 4|which mesh with the gear 39. as the ring 33 turns,

33, in position to be tan face of the plate 21 in Y Hence the shafts 39revolve with it and rotate about their own long axes as the gears rollalong on the annular seats 38 terminate short of the inner edge of thering 33, so that they clear the rollers 35 as the ring 33 revolves.

The shafts 39 also have bearing engagement with the outstandingflangesof the angle bars 31; and adjacent said flanges carry pinions 42. Theflanges 0f the bars 31 which engage the seats 38 have slots or recesses43 to enable the pinions to clear these bars. Also mounted in suitablebearing openings in the outstanding flanges of the bars 31 and extendingacross between them are spindles 44; one at each side of the spindle 39;and each of'these spindles carries at one end a fixed gear 45. The gears45 mesh with the pinions 42 and are disposed in As illustrated in Figure5, the gears and pinions are so arranged that one of the gears 45 is atone end of the spindle 44 carrying it, and the other gear 45 is attheopposite end of the other spindle. Hence, as the pulley ring 33 revolvesand its gears 4| roll on the fixed gear 36, the two spindles 44 willrotate in opposite directions. In Figure 2, for the sake of clearness,the top bearing 48 and top gear 4| are omitted; and the gears 4| and 45are indicated in broken lines.

jRigid with the inner faces of the outstandin flanges of the angle bars31 are two flat bars 46. These bars 46 extend through the opening '29 intheplate 21. djacent their extremities beyond the plate 21 each bar 46carries a fixed transverse bar 41, which is flat and secured to theinner faces of the bar 46. The ends of the bars=41 project beyond theopposite edges of the flat bars 46; and to each outer end of the twobars 41 is fixed a short flat link 48 extending towards the plate 21.These links lie beyond the edges of the bars'46 and along same, and theysupport chain gears 49. One such gear is carried by each such link; andthe gears 49 are matched by four similar gears 49, two on each spindle44. Each gear on a link 48 will be connected by an endless chain 50 tothe gear in line therewith on one of the spindles 44; and the fourchains will all be parallel tothe bars 46' and to one another. Thejournals 54 for the gears 49 on the links 48 may be of any suitabletype; and the links may be adjustably secured as by bolts and nuts tothe bars 41 Between" the outer ends of the bars 46 is a cylindricalguide sleeve 5|. It begins adjacent the cross bars 41 and extends beyondthe extremities of' thebars 46. On the outer, faces of the bars.

'46 at the ends are fixed cross bars 52 also extending beyond theopposite edges of the bars 46; and bridged at their extremities byconnecting gear or rack 30. The" the same recesses 43.

bolts 53. By meansof nuts these bolts can be tightened to grip the guidesleeve 5| and hold it in place. The bars 46, bolts 53 and sleeve 5|constitute a single member or frame to receive the strip and wireleaving the rolls 5 and 6.

Spacing and reinforcing bars 55 may be placed between the angle bars 31and the adjacent ends of the flat bars 46; all said bars having bearingopenings for the shafts 39 and 44.

The pulley ring 33 is turned by a belt or cable 56 in the groove 34 andalso engaging a rooved pulley 51. This pulley 51 is mounted on shaftother en'dofthe shaft of the motor I0. 7 The reel or spool'3 for thewire 4 is mounted to turn freely on a fixed spindle 64, which is fixedin an open frame 69. Keyed on the Spindle 64 and engaging one end of thereel 3 is a ring 65; and between this ring and a fixed collar 66 on thespindle 64 is a spiral spring 61 on the spindle. As the; spool turns,the ring 65 acts as a brake to retard the reel and the paying out of thewire 4 thereon. The frame 69 is mounted to rotate in a fixed yoke 68secured on the framework 8. The frame 69 turns on trunnions 16 and 1|,the latter being hollow to enable the wire to pass through it. On thistrunnion 1| is a pulley 12, which is operated by a cable 13 running alsoover a pulley 14. This pulley is mounted on another shaft 15 in bearingson the framework 8 and having a worm 15 at its other end to engage awormwheel on the haft l2.

In practice the work strip 2. emerges from the rolls 6 with transversepleats thereon, as indicated in Figure 1 at 16. Passing in between thebars 46, it is engaged by the chains 50 and pushed on through the sleeve5| to be cutoff into the desired lengths as it emerges. Between the bars46 the material is turned into spiral convoluted form as indicated at 11and shown'fully in my patents aforesaid. The gears 49'rotate in suchdirection that the sections of the elements or chains 50 which engagethe material impel it towards the sleeve. Thus the lower sections ofthe'chains 50 in Figure 2 run from right to left and the correspondingsections of the other two chains move in the same direction. or, byreference to Fi ure 5, the sections of the chains that are farthest fromthe edge of the opening 29always move in the same direction, which isaway from the observer. Hence the required feeding' and'delivery effectis secured. \All this time the pulley ring 33 and the bars 46 arerevolving about a line parallel to the bars 46 and passing through thecenter of the opening 29; and simultaneously with the feeding thematerial is twisted as desired.

The twister works well also with one strip 2 of Cellophane and asinglestrand of wire. 'At the start, the wire and the-Cellophane aresimply pushed through between the rollers 5 and 6, and one end of thewire is bent orhooked. The operation then pushes the, stripmaterialwhich impels the wire onward. The wire being retarded by the brake 65,the strip is pushed along by the rolls and is transversely pleated asitleaves the rolls 6. A small box 18 may be mounted in the framework tocontain an adhesive; The wire passes .over or through the sides of thebox, in which is mounted awheel 19 that dips into the adhesive. As thewire passes it runs .between flanges on this wheel andis covered by theadhesive which makes, it holdto the striporstrips more firmly and give amore uniform product,

The rotation of the frame 69 and reel 3 ofisets it runs off the reel3.Two wires and one strip of Cellophane between them may be worked in thesame way.

When paper is employed instead of Cellophane, the twister operations maybe performed with two strips and one wire, one strip and one wire, ortwo wires with a strip between.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be novel is:

1. Apparatus for producing decorative material comprising a reel forsupplying a work strip, a reel for wire, feed rolls for the wire and thestrip. a twister for the wire and the strip beyond said feed rolls andcomprising elements for impelling the wire and strip through the twisterand means to operate said elements a fixed gear adjacent said rolls andgearing on said twister engaged by said gear to operate said twister andsaid means.

2. Apparatus for producing decorative material comprising a reel for awork strip, a reel for wire, feed rolls for the wire and the strip, atwister member for receiving the wire and the strip from said rolls,means for supporting and revolving said member, elements in said memberfor impelling the wire and the strip through said member, a fixedcircular rack between said rolls and said member, and gearing meshingwith said rack and connected to said elements to actuate the latter.

3. Apparatus for producing decorative material comprising a reel forwire and a reel for a work strip, feed rolls for the wire and the strip,a twister frame, a pulley ring surrounding said frame and securedthereto, means for rotatably mounting said frame and said ring, elementsin the frame for engaging the strip and delivering it from the twister,a fixed circular rack between said rolls and the twister frame, andgearing mounted on said ring to engage said rack and actuate saidelements.

4. Apparatus for producing decorative material comprising a reel forwire and a reel for a work strip, feed rolls for the wireand the strip,a twister frame, a, pulley ring surrounding the frame and securedthereto, means for rotatably mounting said ring, a fixed circular rackbetween the rolls and the pulley ring, chains extending lengthwise inthe frame to deliver the material therefrom and gearing mounted on thering to engage the rack and actuate said chains.

5. Apparatus for producing decorative mate rial comprising a reel forwire and a reel for a work strip, feed rolls for the wire and the strip,a twister frame, a pulley ring surrounding the frame and, securedthereto, means for rotatably mounting the frame and ring, gears in theouter end of said frame, gears on said ring, endless chains in the framecarried by said gears, a circular rack between the frame and the feedrolls, and gear connections mounted on said ring and meshing with saidrack to actuate the chains.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said connections comprisegears-to engage said rack, shafts carrying said gears at opposite pointson the ring, an additional shaft adjacent each of said first-namedshafts the additional shafts supporting said chain gears on the ring andgearing connecting said additional shafts to the firstnamed shaft.

7. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the ring is spanned by anglebars to which the frame is affixed, and said bars support the ends ofshafts carrying said chain gears on the ring and gear connections.

8. Apparatus for producing decorative material comprising means forsupplying a work strip, means for supplying a wire, feed rolls for thestrip and the wire, a twister member for the strip and the wire, meansfor supporting and revolving said member, elements revolving in unisonwith said member and movable longitudinally thereof for impelling thewire and the strip past said member, and means operating in conjunctionwith said member as it revolves for actuating said elements.

ISAAC J. WISOFF.

